


Tick, Tick, Tick

by MS_Hikari



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, Reminiscing, aqua is big sad, wandering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-18 02:54:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28859919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MS_Hikari/pseuds/MS_Hikari
Summary: All she could do was wander and wait, the only noise present being her heartbeat, like a maddened clock.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	Tick, Tick, Tick

**Author's Note:**

> I was in an Aqua-loving mood today so I decided to scribble something down and just look at where my mind took me. Didn't really expect it to be a pre-BBS/Aqua backstory thing yet here we are.
> 
> again, haven't played Re:Mind yet so if there's any inconsistencies, that's why.

Aqua couldn’t really remember when she first arrived in the Land of Departure. Everything she knew had, at most, been told to her by Master Eraqus. The world was, really, all she had ever known. Occasionally, during dream-filled wanderings she would remember---they weren’t much, like some sort of distant, half-broken fantasy. There was always a woman---the only distinction Aqua could ever make out was black clothing and sea blue hair---and occasionally a man. Without fail, they would always discuss some sort of ‘gift’, some sort of abnormal ability only a chosen few were given.

When she was younger, Aqua had come up with all sorts of different conspiracies as to who were in these dreams, or why she was getting them. Truthfully, in her waking hours she had no memory of who these people were. Master Eraqus and Terra were...really the only people she had ever known.

And if she was being honest, she wasn’t entirely sure if she wanted to know what these dreams were.

Aqua had been training as a Keyblade wielder ever since she was a girl. As she had been told, the instant she had discovered this gift when she was about three she was taken to the Land of Departure, to be trained under Master Eraqus. She was raised there ever since, and began training when she was about seven.

Terra had been brought there around the same time she had. As children, Aqua remembered they didn’t get along very well. As young boys usually are, Terra had held a grudge against her for a long time simply for being a girl, and this dislike was really only heightened when Aqua (two years his junior and  _ very _ bored without a friend to have around) kept bothering about wanting to spend time with him for the first couple weeks she was there.

During the first year or so of their training, it was always a competition. Aqua’s main motivation for doing well in her training was outshining Terra. Even as children, they each had a distinct attack strategy that couldn’t really be compared. Terra preferred brute strength, charging into battle recklessly with only his will as his guidance; Aqua favored magic, moving cautiously and slowly, examining each action she took with precision.

Aqua couldn’t exactly pinpoint when she and Terra started getting along better---maybe over time they realized the fighting was meaningless, or maybe their training brought them close together and made them realize their personalities clicked. But whatever it was, it certainly worked---their relationship started to shift from that of distant coldness to reluctant allies to a close friendship. Hanging out in each others’ rooms and reading all sorts of different storybooks filled with tales of heroisms played through long ago, or playing make-believe as great Keyblade Masters. 

Aqua’s favorite pastime was taking walks around the world. By the time she was a teenager, Aqua had explored every nook and cranny the mountainous region had to offer---though as much as she enjoyed the exploration, simply admiring the world was just as beautiful. Sometimes she would just spend hours walking along the trails around the castle, admiring all the grassy mountains and the blue sky as wide and deep as the ocean. Sometimes she would bring Terra along, and once Ventus arrived he became a part of the tradition as well. When not training, the days would be spent walking along the pathways, talking about anything and everything, from things as trivial as what Keychain looked the prettiest or coolest to philosophical questionings spurred on by their Master’s teachings. And when nightfall came they could sit by the cliffside and compete to see who could spot the most constellations.

In the eternal prison Aqua had been wandering, those memories were her only solace.

And the worst thing was, she didn’t even know if having them around was good or bad.

Her memories might have been the only thing keeping her sane, in a world where time had no meaning and Aqua didn’t know what was going on in the world of light, where anywhere from a couple months to hundreds of years could have passed.

But her memories were also a burden.

The question of  _ what could I have done different? _ was Aqua’s consistent tormenter. Time and time again had she created all sorts of fantasies in her head, about just a couple different or added actions could lead to a completely different outcome---one where she was back in the realm of light, where Ventus was safe and awake and alive, where they were both with Terra again…

Sometimes Aqua did find herself questioning if she had gone mad.

And the worst thing was, she couldn’t change anything. She couldn’t change or fix or redo anything and set things right.

All she could do was wander and wait, the only noise present being her heartbeat, like a maddened clock.

_ Tick, tick, tick... _

**Author's Note:**

> so part of this was made to kind of flesh out Terra, Aqua and Ventus' friendship a bit more, since even though I do like BBS I'm not disputing that it has some massive flaws, one of those being their friendship is more told than shown to us. Like, we're probably told over a dozen and a half times how close they are but we don't really...? See? Anything of that friendship?  
> And even when we do it makes no sense, like who tells their friend 'hey you're like those stars up there'?!


End file.
